Verse 9.98 [Impropriety of the Nuptial Fee]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

आददीत न शूद्रोऽपि शुल्कं दुहितरं ददन् ।
शुल्कं हि गृह्णन् कुरुते छन्नं दुहितृविक्रयम् ॥ ९८ ॥

ādadīta na śūdro'pi śulkaṃ duhitaraṃ dadan |
śulkaṃ hi gṛhṇan kurute channaṃ duhitṛvikrayam || 98 ||

Even a Śūdra should not take a nuptial fee, when he is giving away his daughter; by accepting a fee, what he does is disguised bartering.—(98)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

What is to be done when the fee is received voluntarily, has been laid down in the preceding verse. Hence some people might come to entertain the following notion—“There is nothing wrong in receiving the nuptial fee, since the scriptures have laid down special rules regarding the subject.” And with a view to preclude such a notion, the text says—‘even a Śūdra should not take a nuptial fee.’—What the foregoing text has done is to lay down certain rules relating to cases where a man receives the fee, of his own will; and it does not lay down the propriety of receiving the fee. Just as the laying down of expiatory rites in connection with wine-drinking does not mean that the drinking is permitted.

The ‘nuptial fee’ here spoken of is the same as what has been deprecated in another text; and we have already explained why the same fact has been reiterated in the present verse.’—(98)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Smṛtitattva (II, p. 140).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.98-100)

Vaśiṣṭha (1.36).—‘The buying of a wife is mentioned in the following passage of the Veda:—“Therefore one hundred cows besides a chariot should be given to the bride’s father.”’

Āpastamba (2.13.12)—‘It is declared in the Veda that at the time of marriage, a gift, with a view to meet the father’s wishes, should be made by the bridegroom to the father—“Therefore he should give a hundred cows besides a chariot; this gift he should make bootless by returning it to the giver.” In reference to these marriage-rites, the word “Sale” can apply only in a metaphorical sense; as such union is effected under the law.’